One of the most common issues for moms is the chronic stress from being “on call” all the time. This often goes hand in hand with a lack of sleep. The stress hormone, adrenaline, causes depletion of magnesium. A lack of magnesium causes crankiness, sleepiness, and muscle/joint pain….it is a vicious cycle for moms. This is why it is imperative for moms to supplement with magnesium (or magnesium baths/floats). It is also recommended that breastfeeding moms get 20% more magnesium in their diets. Magnesium is an essential mineral for healthy baby growth, along with a new mom’s health and sanity. …….Read More

Have you noticed how many times a day that we, as women, say “sorry”? Now maybe you are an exception to this, and if that is the case, then I salute you. But listen to other women, listen to yourself, and reflect upon how many times a day there is an insignificant “sorry.”

We say “sorry” when we take too long in the bathroom, “sorry” for our house being a mess, “sorry” we are wearing sweats to the grocery store, “sorry” we did not put makeup on today. Why are we sorry?Are we sorry because we are insecure that people are seeing us makeup free and with elastic waistband pants on? Are we sorry because we were busy raising kids, working, driving, planning, and taking care of ourselves that we did not get around to cleaning our house? That is B.S. We should not be sorry for any of that. Instead, we, as women, need to be secure enough to say, I am balancing a lot and doing an amazing job at it and I am NOT SORRY for the dishes in the sink, or my messy bun because I have not washed my hair in three days……Read More

For years my husband and I have had a dream to build a home with everything we ever wanted in it. We fantasized about it, we would talk about our dreams over date night dinners, and for years I pinned every desire I had ever dreamed about in a home. By the grace of God we were able to build on raw land in our dream location.

The “clean plate club” was the beginning of a campaign in 1917 launched by the United States Congress; Herbert Hoover was the head of this campaign, and his goal was to ration the limited food that Americans had during World War I. The pledge that children learned was: “At table I’ll not leave a scrap of food upon my plate. And I’ll not eat between meals, but for supper time I’ll wait.” His goal was for people to eat less, use less essential ingredients, and to finish their entire meal. By doing this, young children developed the habit of eating everything given to them, thus “cleaning their plate.” …..Read More

Let’s discuss another option besides mammograms…

While in no way am I saying that mammograms have not saved millions of lives, I do feel that is important that we know all of the options available to us. It is key that we are the decision makers for our bodies and our health care options! Read More

I am part of several “mom” groups on facebook and the consistent theme I keep hearing is how exhausted everyone is. Between playgroups, toilet training, carpool, making breakfast, lunch, dinner, cleaning, nursing, keeping teenagers alive, volunteering, working…(do I really need to continue this list) we assume our exhaustion is normal. I mean, who wouldn’t feel exhausted after a day as mom – we have maxed ourselves out and our bodies are beginning to rebel. Literally rebelling. All of those long-term stressors can eventually deplete the nutrients and precursors that we need to produce cortisol and other hormones. Chronic stress will raise your cortisol levels for a while, but eventually your body is unable to continue producing cortisol in such high amounts. At this point there are declines in not only cortisol, but also key hormones and neurotransmitters like aldosterone, testosterone, epinephrine and more…..Read More

These recipes have been tried (some multiple times) and are always big wins with my family. They are gluten and dairy free so they are perfect to cover the two major food sensitivities that our guests and family have. The spatchcocked turkey is my absolutely favorite way to cook a turkey - I have no desire to ever go back to turkey roasting bags :) Read More…..

It is fall here in Charleston which means all of our pumpkin spiced lattes are still ordered on ice! But, in a few months we will experience the random chill in the air (followed by the next day’s heat wave). It will be one day of enjoying our vitamin D at the beach and the next day we are bundled up with the heater and fireplaces on…..it is a southern thing and while it is wonderful, it can lead to some skin issues!

Our skin covers the entire surface of our bodies and is very responsive to the weather and environmental toxins. When the weather is confused, our skin becomes confused. Dry patches, redness, and irritation are all examples of things that can happen with this confusion…..Read More

Oh the glorious nutrients that breast milk contains…. it is truly the perfect food for a baby!

Breast milk has all the substance that can give a growing baby immunity to infection and disease, it stimulates important hormonal activities in the mother’s body, and breastfeeding helps mom be protected against future breast cancer and osteoporosis…..Read More